Start your first Docker Compose project

This tutorial assumes docker version and docker compose version work in the same user context as Switchyard.

1. Add the repository

switchyard project add /absolute/path/to/compose-project
switchyard project list

Open the proposal in the browser. Confirm the Compose files, project identity, services, published ports, health checks, and source evidence before trust. Discovery reads configuration but does not run Compose.

2. Preview the start plan

switchyard plan start <project>

The plan should name the installed docker compose lifecycle, selected files, working directory, and affected services. No container starts during preview.

3. Start and observe

switchyard start <project>
switchyard status <project>
switchyard logs <project> --tail 50

Success is an operation in a terminal state, declared services mapped through Compose labels, and required health checks reporting healthy. A running container with a failed health check is degraded, not falsely stopped.

What happened?

Switchyard executed lifecycle through the installed Compose CLI and observed containers, events, logs, published ports, and metrics through the Docker API. Stopping preserves containers and data; teardown remains a separately previewed destructive operation.